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Enoch Wallscaler
Formerly an orphan in a big cityCurrently without name, this could be added as needed., Enoch was forced to learn cons and deceptions to survive. Adopted by a kindly old magic-user (who Enoch initially planned to rob), Enoch found a new home for himself in the outskirts of a rural villageAlso can be given a name and details, as needed. . Unlike his time in the city, though, he quickly learned that descriptions of cheats and liars spread fast in small towns. A local priest, told to be wary of the boy, followed Enoch home one day and was startled to see the boy's Tiefling caretaker (and casual teacher of the arcane) working spells. The town was fearful of what it could not understand, due to oral stories of a war between dragons, which ravaged the land in centuries past. As such, it was distrustful of outsiders in general, and the arcane in particular. It banded together to hunt down the elderly mentor, who sacrificed himself to buy his protege an escape. In his grief, however, Enoch's stealth failed him, and he was captured. The town's temple, despite the poverty of the general village amid a drought, was lavish and extravagant. This in large part was due to an escalating sense of religious fundamentalism, sweeping the village, as encouraged by the corrupt priests. Their hardships, the priests insisted, could be attributed to malicious, arcane forces. To reinforce this, the priests performed "miracles" (itself a raw form of magic, not that they would ever admit to such in their arcanophobic teachings) to amaze the crowd, and regular punished "evildoers". Brought before a sham religious trial, a priest branded Enoch with a large "D" on his forehead, proclaiming him to be a "devil child". Taken away while the superstitious crowd spewed hatred at him, Enoch was placed in chains and hauled away. Locked in a dungeon beneath the village, Enoch's existence was all but forgotten by the villagers, who contented themselves in knowing that another devil child was removed, giving not a second thought to what was done with them. The priests, however much Enoch wished they might, never forgot. Each day they came to the dungeon to run more tests on him and the other emaciated children. The tests ranged from pressing talismans to the flesh of the subjects in the hopes of prompting a reaction to attempting to determine the pain threshold of certain species (as the village maintained a purely human population). Soon, Enoch made a friend. They were friends who never exchanged more than a single word each--words were forbidden, and were met with pain. Instead, they spoke in no more than exchanged glances amid the nigh-nonexistent light. It was these stolen moments of eye contact that motivated Enoch to survive, retaining his mind while so many of his fellows did not. Soon, despite such limited interactions, Enoch came to love her. He loved everything about her, from her willpower to the way she grit her teeth, determined to not let the priests hear her scream. When they'd leave, he'd hold her while she wept. Through a dramatically-orchestrated series of spasms and a sly wink, informed Enoch that to some extent, pain could be avoided by feigning pain, especially when mundane iron talismans were presented. During one such spasm, Enoch's new friend slipped a spare talisman from a priest's robes. Unnoticing, the priest departed the room, at which point she used it to pick the lock on her chains. She did the same for Enoch, and together the two of them crossed the room (leaving behind the dozens whose minds had long-since broken along with their spirits). In the dark, Enoch took the lead, his elven blood lending him aid in the shadowy halls (despite its role in placing him there). Finally stepping into the light and climbing the fence as temple beasts (monsters the priests would never acknowledge the existence of to the village, kept in another dungeon) chased them, he turned to face his newly-liberated beloved, and saw a look of utter horror upon her face. Turning behind him, Enoch soon realized that she was looking at ''him. ''In that instant, Enoch realized that the ingrained xenophobia of her surroundings had affected even her. She had, of course, never seen him clearly in the darkened pit. Enoch sputtered, voice unused to making more than pained cries, "I'm-" "Monster." she replied, recoiling from him. Her single word was soft, but carried with it the force of a dozen branding irons. Enoch flinched in an entirely new kind of pain, and in that moment, her hand slipped from his grasp. Falling to the ground, Enoch's companion, his love, and his ultimate betrayer was seized by a a pair of rough-handed priests and hauled back to the depths. Enoch never looked back. An orphan once more, and wracked with guilt, Enoch decided to hone his magical arts while traveling the world. In the process, he would get by the only way he had ever known how: shenanigans. As such, to see the world while honing his craft, he joined a travelling troupe of performers. While he's not let on to his arcane abilities to those outside his inner circle, he feels accepted (even if his blusterous "Samuel the Splendid" persona is merely a charade). Along the way he has met a colorful cast of characters, from the prideful Dularay to the stoic Arkoa and the cowardly (yet brave, in his way) Arturu. These, along with the leadership of the troupe (the charming Djinn Bartoma, and Tiefling second in command Alice--the latter of whom Enoch is unable to decide whether he'll murder or marry), are the only ones aware of his abilities. While he is still distrustful of mankind (and humans in particular), Enoch has sought to balance his new life with the wild, natural magic he learned from his master. As such, he regularly meditates in the woods, drinking herbal tea he harvests himself. He is, at times, haunted by the specters of his past, and bristles at any decision to enslave another.